LIRR on brink of shutdown as strike talks between unions, MTA go into night
Long Island Rail Road commuters at Grand Central Madison on Thursday. A fire that shutdown LIRR service at Penn Station highlighted the region's dependence on the railroad. Credit: Newsday/Ted Phillips
A marathon negotiation session between MTA managers and LIRR union leaders dragged into the night Thursday as the sides worked on an agreement that would avert a railroad strike and leave tens of thousands of New Yorkers struggling to get on, off and around Long Island.
While both sides acknowledged incremental progress in Thursday’s talks — which, for the first time, were attended by the transit authority's chairman — both sides also dialed up the temperature ahead of the Saturday, 12:01 a.m. deadline. MTA Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials defended a threat to fire probationary some workers if they strike, and the unions circulated an image of a countdown clock ticking toward the railroad’s first work stoppage in more than three decades.
Adding to commuters' anxiety, and highlighting the Long Island Rail Road's LIRR’s critical role in the region’s transportation network, a fire inside an East River rail tunnel shut down train service at Penn during the evening rush hour, sending riders scurrying to find other ways to get home.
Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.
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